How do you determine what size generator to run your house off of?

Question

How do you determine what size generator to run your house off of?

Answer 1

your question leaves a lot of variables,  are you looking to power your house by generators? or as a back up for when you lose power?  if you want it for say a storm outage, a small 20 amp would do nicely to keep your refridgerator and a few lights lit until power is restored.

If your looking  to power your house all the time by generator, you have a couple of options. 1, one large generator capable of 200 amps or so,   or 2, smaller multiple generators, i prefer the multiple system, its cheaper to run,  when one reaches max, capacity, second unit automatically starts for the additional power, and if you need a third  that will start automatically also.  works out good for servicing also, you always have two while one is serviced.

Answer 2

Home Depot's site has a pretty good page about this. The link is in the sources.

Answer 3

You should look at all the items you want to run during a power failure.  Most dealers/installers of this type of generator are more than willing to come out to your home, and work with you on figuring out just how big of a unit you want.

That said.... looking at what you want to run, you should add up the requirements for each item... for example, a refrigerator, well pump (if necessary), water heater, furnace,  etc... you need to really look at your 'big ticket' items, those that require the most power.  So... your first decision is to figure out what you absolutely need, and what you can do without, during a power outage.  Some folks would need medical equipment... and some couldn't live without their internet, or tv, lol.

A control panel will be installed and circuits run to those items you want powered up when the generator is working.  Most of these can be run off of gasoline, diesel, natural gas, or propane fuel... pick the one most appropriate for your area.  (Most rural areas, for example, would use propane, because it is something they already have).

Here is a link to one such standby generator guide - https://www.electricgeneratorsdirect.com...

Good Luck

Answer 4

Visit http:www.lowes.com and see their guide.

Answer 5

if you call the electric co. they'll tell you they pump 15 amps to your house. so, if you want to run everything in the house, you should get a generator that puts out 15 amps, constantly.

Answer 6

Read through my home generator page.

http://members.rennlist.org/warren/gener...

Answer 7

go to Kohlergenerators.com